Floor cleaning device



Nov. 27, 11962 H. E. WRIGHT 3,065,489 FLOOR CLEANING DEVICE Filed July'26,, 1960 Iva /@1627! United States Patent 3,665,489 FLOOR CLEANINGDEVICE Hershel Earl Wright, Decatur, Ill. Filed July 26, 1%0, Ser. No.45,478 6 Claims. (Cl. 15-353) This invention relates to a floor cleaningdevice, and more specifically, to a device particularly suited for usein connection with a conventional vacuum cleaner for washing floors andfloor coverings.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a simple andinexpensive vacuum cleaner attach- 'ment for the washing and scrubbingof carpets, rugs and other floor coverings, the suction of the vacuumcleaner being utilized to remove the water, dirt and cleaning agent fromthe floor. In this connection, it is a principal object to provide suchan attachment with highly eflective means for removing water from theair stream to protect the vacuum cleaner proper against corrosion, wear,or other damage, such as shorting of the units electrical components,arising because of water invasion. Spec'ifically, it is an object toprovide'a water extractor of simple, inexpensive and highly efiicientdesign. A further object is to provide an extractor in which all of theelements responsible for extracting water and dirt from a stream of. airare non-moving, at least with refere'nce to each other. Still anotherobject is to provide an extractor for withdrawing liquid and particulatematter from a stream of air, the extractor being useable in conjunctionwith vacuum cleaner units of any size and capacity. without loss ofefiiciency. An additional object is to provide a water and dirtextractor for a floor cleaning device which will automatically interruptthe flow of air whenthe extractor is filled with water.

Other objects will appear from the specification and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a floor cleaning device embodyingthe present invention, portions of the extractor unit therefor beingshown in longitudinal section;

FIGURE 2 is a broken elevational and sectional view showing theextractor unit only partially filled with water; FIGURE 3 is an enlargedtransverse sectional view of theextractor unit taken along line 3--3 ofFIGURE 1.

In embodiment ofthe invention illustrated in the drawings, the numeral10 generally designates a floor cleaning device adapted to be attachedto the flexible hose 11 of a conventional vacuum cleaner. Essentially,the device comprises a substantially straight tube 12, a scrubbing head13, a container 14 for holding a supply of water and cleaning agent, andan extractor 15. As shown in FIGURE 1, the straight tube 12 is providedat its upper end with a curved section of tubing 16'which provides anoperating handle for the device. Adjacent its upper end, tube 1'2 isalso provided with a conventional valve 17 for regulating the amount ofair flowing through the main tube. As is well known in the art, valve 17comprises a rotatable sleeve having an opening 18 which can be movedinto and out of register with an aperture 19 in tube 12.

, Scrubbing head 13 communicates with tube 12 at the lower end thereofand is provided with a brush '20 for the scrubbing of floors and floorcoverings. A feed pipe 21 is connected at one end to the scrubbing headand at its opposite end to container or reservoir 14. The container issecured by bracket 22 to the upper end portion of the tube 12 and isequipped with a removable cover 213.. .An adjustable valve 24 isinterposed along line 21 to control the flow of liquid from thereservoir to the scrubbing head.

Extractor 15 includes a casing 25 secured by straps ice 26 to the lowerportion of tube 12. Within the casing is a. cylindrical extractionchamber 27 for the centrifugal traction of water, dirt, and washingagent from air streaming therethrough. At the upper end of chamber 27 isa deflector 28 of generally cylindrical shape. The hollow deflector isprovided along its cylindrical surface with a plurality ofcircumferentially-spaced jets or nozzles 29 for directing air (and thematerial entrained thereby) tangentially into the upper end of thechamber.

As shown most clearly in FIGURE 1, the interior of tube 12 is dividedinto inlet and outlet passages 30 and 31 by means of a partition 32located intermediate the ends of the tube. A conduit 33 communicateswith the upper end of the inlet passage 30 and leads directly to theupper end of the extractor where it communicates with hollow deflector28. Thus, fluid passing upwardly through the inlet passage flowsdirectly into the deflector through conduit 33 and, because of thedirection of jets 29, is thrown outwardly against the cylindrical sidesof the casing in a counter-clockwise spiral path (when viewed fromabove). The direction of movement of the air is indicated by the arrows34 of-FIGURE 2.

Intermediate the upper and lower ends of the casing is a partition 35having a central opening 36 and a plurality of circumferentially-spacedupwardly-projecting scoops 37 overlying openings 38. It will be observedthat the scoops face in directions opposite to the jets 29 so that thespiralling stream of air with its entrained liquid and particulatematter will pass through'openings 38 into the lower chamber 39. 1

Extending between the outlet passage 31 of tube 12 and the upperextraction chamber 27 is a clean air discharge conduit 40. The lower endportion of this conduit passes downwardly through the central portion ofthe deflector 28 and terminates in an annular valve seat 41 disposedbeneath the deflector. A valve member in the form of ball 42 cooperateswith this valve seat to control the flow of air through the dischargeconduit. The valve member is connected by a depending rod'43 to a float44 within the lower chamber 39. When the lower chamber is empty or whenthe fluid level therein is low, valve member 42 is unseated, asillustrated in FIGURE 2. However, when the lower chamber is nearlyfilled with liquid the raised float 44 urges valve mem-' ber 42 upwardlyinto the seated position shown in FIG.- URE l. 2 v a Movement of thevalve member between raised .'and lowered positions is guided by avalve'cage'45. Prefer ably, an annular shield 46 extends about the lowerend of the discharge conduit 40 to eliminate or reduce the possibilitythat air discharged from the jets of the deflec-' tor may pass directlyinto the open mouth of thedis charge conduit.

' In the operation of the illustrated embodiment, con

a user, gripping the device by handle 16, simply'ur'ges' the scrubbinghead 13 back and forth over the surface to be cleaned. The suction ofthe vacuum then lifts the' water and dirt from the floor or rug surfaceso that the' surface does not become soaked with liquid and the dirtparticles and stains do not 'migrate downwardly. In some instances,where it' is desirable to first saturate the floor covering with thecleansing liquid, operation of the vacuum cleaner may commence after thescrubbing step has been completed.

As the air and water pass through the hollow deflector unit 28 they areforced into a spiral path by the circumferential series of jets 29 andthe cylindrical inner surface of casing 25. The air spins downwardlytowards the lower end of the extraction chamber 27 and, because of theirgreater density, water droplets and particles of dirt, soil, etc. tend.to be thrown outwardly under the influence of centrifugal force andimpinge on the cylindrical side walls of the extraction chamber.Consequently, the air tends to be relieved of most of the largerdroplets of water as the stream follows, a helical path downwardlythrough the extraction chamber. Upon reaching the lower portion of thatchamber, the liquid and air enter lower chamber 39 through the openingsadjacent scoops or fins 37. The scoops tend to act as. secondary baifiesfor collecting smaller droplets of water and, in connection with theremainder of the centrally apertured partition, cause an abrupt changein the direction of flow of the air. The air,v relieved of the water andparticulate matter carried thereby, passes upwardly from the lowerchamber through the central opening of partition 35 and then leaves theextractor through discharge conduit 40.

. From the above, it is believed apparent that the cylin drical wall ofthe extraction chamber 27 serves as a primary baflie in collecting waterdroplets impinging on it by reason of the spiral flow downwardly throughthat chamber. Water is centrifugally extracted without significantlyrestraining the flow of air through the extrac tion chamber.Furthermore, the velocity of the spinning action, and hence the effectsof centrifugal force on the water droplets and particulate matter, arein direct relation to. the power of the vacuumunit used in conjunctionwith the cleaning device.

While in the foregoing I have described an embodiment ot the.- inventionin considerable detail for purposes of illustration it will beunderstood by those skilled'in the art that many of these details may bevaried without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.v

I claim:

1. In a surface washing device, an extractor for removing liquid andparticulate matter from a stream of air, said extractor comprising acasing having curved side walls defining an extraction chamber, saidcasing having an inlet opening at one. end thereof, a deflector at saidone end of said chamber communicating directly with said inlet openingfor directing an incoming stream of air in a spiral path axially throughsaid chamber, whereby, liquid and particulate matter carried by said airare thrown outwardly against said walls under the influence ofcentrifugal force, a discharge passage having a discharge opening.centrally located within said chamber for the removal of relativelyclean and dry air from the central portionof said chamber, a ball valvemember cooperable with said discharge opening for opening and closingthe same, a cage mounted within said chamber and supporting said ballvalve member for movement between open and closed positions, said"extraction chamber being provided at its opposite end with a wall havinga plurality of scoops facing in directions opposite to the direction of;spiral movement of said air, and a second chamber communicating withsaid extraction chamber through openings within said scoops, whereby,liquid and particulate matter carried by air spiraling through saidextractionchamber and against said end wall is collected in said secondchamber, said scoop-providing wall having a central openingtherethrough, a rod of substantially smaller diameter than said openingextending downwardly therethrough into said second chamber, said rodbeing secured at its upper end tov said valve member and at its lowerend to a float member.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said opening in saidscoop-providing end wall faces said discharge passage, whereby, airpassing through said second chamber may flow through said last-mentionedopening and. into said discharge passage. 7

3. A floor washing device comprising a stifi and substantially straighttube having a scrubbing head aifixed to the lower end thereof, said tubeadapted to be connected adjacent its upper end to the hose of a vacuumcleaner for the removal of wash water and dirt from a cleaned floor, atransverse partition separating the interior of said tube to provide alower inlet passage and an upper outlet passage, and an extractor forextracting wash water and dirt from air passing through said tube, saidextractor comprising a casing having upper and lower chambers therein,said upper chamber communicating with said, inlet passage and beingprovided with deflector means for imparting spiral movement to airstreaming into said upper chamber from said inlet passage, said upperchamber also having a centrally-disposed discharge port communicatingwith the upper outlet passage of said tube, said upper and lowerchambers being separated by an intermediate apertured wall having acentral opening coaxial with said discharge port, whereby, dirt and washwater carried by air deflected by said deflector means are thrownoutwardly against the walls of said upper chamber and drains downwardlyinto said lower chamber through said apertured intermediate wall, avalve member in said: upper chamber for opening and closing said port, arod con: nected to said valve member and extending. downwardly throughsaid central opening, said rod having a diameter substantially smallerthan said central opening, and a float secured to the lower end of saidrod.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said intermediate apertured wall isprovided with scoops for directing dirt and wash water into said lowerchamber through said apertures.

5'. In a surface washing device, an extractor for removing liquid and'particulate matter from a stream of air, said extractor comprising acasing having curved side walls defining an extraction chamber, saidcasing having an inlet opening at one end thereof, a deflector at saidone end of said chamber communicating directly with said inlet openingfor directing an incoming. stream 05 air in a spiral path axiallythrough said chamber, a discharge passage having a discharge portcentrally located within said. chamber for the removal of relativelyclean and dry air, a wall at the opposite end of said chamber having acentral opening coaxial with said discharge port, a second chambercommunicating with said extraction. chamber through said apertured wall,a valve member in said extraction chamber for opening and closing saidport, a rod connected to said valve member and extending downwardlythrough said central opening, said rod having a diameter substantiallysmaller than said central opening, and a float secured'to the lower endof said rod.

6. The structure of claim 5' in which said apertured wall at saidopposite end of said extraction chamber is provided with a plurality ofscoops facing in directions opposed to the direction of spiral movementof said air, whereby, liquid and particulate matter carried by airspiraling through said extraction chamber and against said scoops iscollected in said second chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

